The men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

tournament at the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( lld, Anpezo 1956 or ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from ...

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, was the eighth Olympic Championship, also serving as the 23rd

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and the 34th European Championships. The tournament was held at the Olympic Ice Stadium and the Apollonio Stadium. East and West Germany could not come to an agreement over how to formulate a combined team, so they played a qualification game against each other, which the west won. The east hosted a tournament for non qualified teams, often referred to as World Championships ''Pool B'', between GDR,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The Soviets won all their games to claim their first Olympic title, their second World title, and their third European title.

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, represented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, won its eighth consecutive Olympic ice hockey medal, and first bronze medal.

Medalists

Participating nations

* * * *

World Championship Group A (Italy)

Qualification

*November 16, 1955 **East Germany 3-7 West Germany

First round

Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group earned a right to play for 1st-6th places.

Group A

*January 26 **Canada 4–0 Germany (UTG) **Italy 2–2 Austria *January 27 **Italy 2–2 Germany (UTG) **Canada 23–0 Austria *January 28 **Germany (UTG) 7–0 Austria **Italy 1–3 Canada

Group B

*January 27 **Czechoslovakia 4–3 USA *January 28 **USA 4–0 Poland *January 29 **Czechoslovakia 8–3 Poland

Group C

*January 27 **USSR 5–1 Sweden *January 28 **Sweden 6–5 Switzerland *January 29 **USSR 10–3 Switzerland

Final round

The first place team, the Soviet Union, won the gold medal; the silver medal was won by the United States, and the bronze medal was won by Canada. *January 30 **USA 7–2 Germany (UTG) **Canada 6–3 Czechoslovakia **USSR 4–1 Sweden *January 31 **USSR 8–0 Germany (UTG) **Sweden 5–0 Czechoslovakia **USA 4–1 Canada *February 1 **USA 6–1 Sweden *February 2 **Canada 10–0 Germany (UTG) **USSR 7–4 Czechoslovakia *February 3 **Czechoslovakia 9–3 Germany (UTG) **Canada 6–2 Sweden **USSR 4–0 USA *February 4 **USSR 2–0 Canada **Germany (UTG) 1–1 Sweden **USA 9–4 Czechoslovakia

Consolation round

*January 31 **Switzerland 7–4 Austria *February 1 **Poland 6–2 Switzerland **Italy 8–2 Austria *February 2 **Italy 8–3 Switzerland **Poland 4–3 Austria *February 3 **Italy 5–2 Poland

World Championship Group B (East Germany)

Final Round

*March 8 **East Germany 4–1 Norway *March 9 **East Germany 14–7 Belgium *March 10 **Norway 7–5 Belgium ----

Statistics

Average age

Gold medalists team USSR was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 29 years and 11 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 22 years and 5 months. Tournament average was 26 years and 7 months.

Leading scorers

Tournament awards

* Best players selected by the directorate: ** Best

Goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

: Willard Ikola **Best

Defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

Nikolai Sologubov Nikolai Mikhailovich Sologubov (russian: Николай Михайлович Сологубов; 8 August 1924 – 30 December 1988 Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

: Jack McKenzie

Final ranking

# # # # # # # # # #

European Championship final ranking

# # # # # # # #

Citations

References

* *
Jeux Olympiques d'Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956
{{DEFAULTSORT:1956 1956 Winter Olympics events Ice hockey at the Winter Olympics Olympics, Winter IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships International ice hockey competitions hosted by Italy